The present invention relates to a specific document determining apparatus, an image reading apparatus for, and a specific document determining method of making determination as to whether a document is a specific document (note) such as bills or marketable securities with metallic fiber included therein or not by detecting metallic fiber included in a document using a microwave, and to a computer-readable recording medium with a program for execution of the same stored therein, and more particularly to a specific document determining apparatus, an image reading apparatus, and a specific document determining method each always enabling determination of a specific document such as bills or marketable securities with metallic fiber included therein at high accuracy even if a condition for detecting the metallic fiber has changed, and to a computer-readable recording medium with a program for execution of the same stored therein.
The present invention further relates to a specific document determining method for preventing a specific document (note) such as bills or marketable securities with metallic fiber included therein by detecting metallic fiber existing in a document from being illegally copied, a computer-readable recording medium with a program for execution of the method stored therein, a specific document determining apparatus, and an image reading apparatus available for the method, and more particularly to a specific document determining method for preventing a specific document (note) such as bills or marketable securities with metallic fiber included therein from being illegally copied, said method enabling detection of metallic fiber with improved accuracy, a computer-readable recording medium for execution of the method, a specific document determining apparatus and an image reading apparatus available for the method.
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus having a specific document determining function for preventing a specific document (note) such as bills or marketable securities with metallic fiber included therein from being illegally copied by detecting metallic fiber included in a document by means of using a microwave, an method of controlling an image reading apparatus having a specific document determining function, and a computer-readable recording medium with a program for execution of the control method stored therein, and more particularly to an image reading apparatus having a specific document determining function for preventing a human body from being affected by a microwave by preventing irradiation of a microwave to the human body, a method of controlling the image reading apparatus having the specific document determining function, and a computer-readable recording medium with a program for execution of the control program stored therein.
The present invention further relates to a specific document determining apparatus for making determination as to whether a document is a specific document (note) such as bills or marketable securities with metallic fiber included therein or not by detecting metallic fiber included in the document by means of using a microwave, and more particularly to a specific document determining apparatus with improved accuracy in determination of a specific document for making determination as to whether a microwave sensor for detecting metallic fiber is operating normally or not.
The present invention further relates to an image forming apparatus comprising a specific document determining apparatus for making determination as to whether a document is a specific document (note) such as bills or marketable securities and having a function to prevent a document determined as a specific document from being illegally copied, and more particularly to an image forming apparatus for preventing a specific document from being illegally copied and at the same time enabling continuous execution of the copying operation by restricting the functions or changing the image processing even when any abnormality occurs in the specific document determining apparatus due to a breakdown thereof or so and a processing for determination of a specific document can not be executed.
In recent years, in association with improvement in the image processing technology as well as in the image forming technology it has become possible to form an image so precisely that a copied bill copied with a color copying machine can not easily be differentiated from an actual bill. For this reason there has been developed an apparatus for determining a specific document such as bills or marketable securities inhibited to be copied and for inhibiting an illegal operation for copying when it is determined that the document is a specific document, and also there has been proposed an image forming apparatus such as a copying machine with a function for determining a specific document incorporated therein.
As the specific document as described above, there are bills with metallic fiber included therein to indicate that the bills are specific documents. To differentiate the specific documents from ordinary documents as described above, it is required only to detect metallic fiber included in a document. For this purpose, as an image forming apparatus having a function to determine a specific document with metallic fiber included therein, there has been proposed an apparatus comprising a microwave sensor for irradiating a microwave to a document, detecting a transmitted wave or a reflected wave of the irradiated microwave, and outputting a detection signal, and a signal determining section for receiving the detection signal outputted from the microwave sensor and making determination as to whether metallic fiber is included in the document or not.
The microwave sensor in the image forming apparatus is provided generally in an image reading unit having a CCD or the like for photographing, reciprocates for scanning together with the image reading unit over a document placed on the document base, irradiates a microwave to the document for detecting metallic fiber and detects a reflected wave in the forward direction for scanning. Then the signal determining section receives the detection signal for the reflected wave outputted from the microwave sensor, compares a level of the received detection signal to a preset threshold value, and determines that metallic fiber is included in the document when the level of the detection signal exceeds the threshold value, and also determines that metallic fiber is not included in the document when the level of the detection signal does not exceed the threshold value. As a result, it is determined that the document is a specific document such as bills or marketable securities with metallic fiber included therein when it is determined that metallic fiber is included in the document.
However, in the conventional technology, for example, when a metallic member is included in a pressure plate, when an attached condition of the pressure plate is changed, or when a use environment of the apparatus is changed, a level of a detection signal outputted from the microwave sensor may change, which makes accuracy in detection of metallic fiber included in a document changed.
Also, in the conventional technology, any interference elements such as a noise due to an influence of vibrations of the image reading unit and changing in temperature or the like may sometimes be included in the detection signal outputted from the microwave sensor, so that it is not always possible to make determination of a specific document with high accuracy.
In the conventional technology, during the operation for making determination as to whether a document is a specific document or not, a user may unintentionally open the pressure plate. In this case, a microwave may directly be irradiated to the user, and for this reason, it is necessary to design the apparatus so as not to directly irradiate a microwave to a human body.
In the conventional technology, when the microwave sensor is not operating normally, metallic fiber included in a document can not accurately be detected, so that accuracy in determination of a specific document may lower.
In the image forming apparatus based on the conventional technology, when any abnormality occurs in a specific document determining apparatus due to a breakdown thereof or so and determination is not made as to whether the document is a specific document or not, an operation for copying ordinary documents can not be performed until the specific document determining apparatus is got back to normal to operate because action for preventing illegal copying of a specific document is taken by inhibiting whole operations for copying.
Especially, even though illegal copying of bills or marketable securities generally requires color copying, with the conventional technology, copying in a monochrome copy mode used with high frequency is also inhibited in a copying machine having both a color copy mode and a monochrome copy mode, so that it is not possible to make effective use of a copying machine having a color copy mode as well as a monochrome copy mode.
It is a first object of the present invention to always enable detection of metallic fiber included in a document with high accuracy.
It is a second object of the present invention to improve accuracy in determination of a specific document such as bills or marketable securities with metallic fiber included therein by eliminating influences due to interference elements in a detection signal on the operations.
It is a third object of the present invention to secure safety to a user by stopping irradiation of a microwave when a user happens to open a pressure plate during irradiation of the microwave.
It is a fourth object of the present invention to enable prevention of a specific document such as bills or marketable securities with metallic fiber included therein from being illegally copied even when determination can not be made, because of stopping of an output of a microwave, as to whether a document is a specific document or not.
It is a fifth object of the present invention to secure safety to a user by making a pressure plate incapable of opening when a microwave is irradiated.
It is a sixth object of the present invention to improve accuracy in determination of a specific document by making determination as to whether a microwave sensor is normally operating or not.
It is a seventh object of the present invention to enable prevention of a specific document such as bills or marketable securities from being illegally copied and at the same time to enable continuation of copying operation even when determination can not be made, because of occurrence of any abnormality in a specific document determining apparatus, as to whether a document is a specific document or not.
With the present invention, the apparatus comprises a detector which irradiates a microwave to and scans a specified area of the specific document determining apparatus before the document is placed on the document base, detects a reflected portion of the irradiated microwave, outputs a first detection signal, then irradiates a microwave to and scans the document after the document is placed on the document base and is covered with a pressure plate, detects a reflected portion of the irradiated microwave, and outputs a second detection signal; a first determining unit for making determination as to whether metallic fiber is included in the document or not by using the first detection signal as a reference and comparing a level of the reference signal to a level of the second detection signal; and a second determining unit for making determination according to a result of determination by the first determining unit as to whether the document is the specific document or not, so that a reference signal appropriate to a current environment of the apparatus can be obtained and determination can always be made with constantly high accuracy as to whether a document is a specific document such as bills or marketable securities with metallic fiber included therein or not even if a level of the detection signal outputted from the microwave sensor is changed, for example, when the pressure plate is constructed with a metallic member, when the attached condition of the pressure plate is changed, or when the use environment of the apparatus is changed.
With the present invention, the method comprises a first step of irradiating a microwave to the document in both the forward and backward directions for scanning, detecting a reflected portion thereof, and outputting a detection signal when irradiating a microwave to and scanning the document and detecting a reflected portion of the irradiated microwave; a second step of making determination as to whether metallic fiber is included in the document or not by using detection signals for reflected waves in both the forward and backward directions for scanning detected in the first step; and a third step for making determination, according to a result of determination in the second step, as to whether the document is the specific document or not, so that interference elements such as each direction of irradiation and reflection of a microwave, temperature, signals, and external noises can be removed from detection signals, which allows processing for determination of a specific document with high accuracy to be executed.
The present invention has a pressure plate determining unit for making determination as to whether a pressure plate pressing a document to a document base is in the open state or in the closed state when irradiating a microwave to and scanning the document, and a specific document determining unit for stopping irradiation of a microwave when it is determined by the pressure plate determining unit that the pressure plate is in the open state, and also executing the processing for irradiating a microwave to and scanning a document when it is determined by the pressure plate determining unit that the pressure plate is in the closed state, so that it is possible to prevent a microwave from being directly irradiated to a human body.
The present invention comprises testing members comprising metallic-members and non-metallic members provided for checking operations of the microwave sensor, and a determination controller for controlling the microwave sensor to make it irradiate a microwave to and scan the metallic members and non-metallic members, receiving an output signal from the metallic members and an output signal from the non-metallic members each outputted from the microwave sensor, and making determination whether the microwave sensor is working normally or not by comparing the output signal from the metallic members to that from the non-metallic members, so that it is possible to accurately determine whether the microwave sensor is normally working or not. As a result, it is possible to prevent the processing for determining a specific document from being executed when the microwave sensor is not working normally, which improves a precision in determination of a specific document.
The present invention has a controller for having the copying operation executed in the state where some of functions owned by the image forming apparatus are suppressed when any abnormality is detected in the specific document determining apparatus, so that, even when determination of a specific document can not be executed, it is possible to prevent a specific document such as bills or marketable securities from being illegally copied by inhibiting only the copying operations using the suppressed functions, and at the same time to have the copying operation without using the suppressed functions, thus the copying operation being executed continuously. Also all the copying operations are not inhibited, so that down time of the image forming apparatus can be minimized.